Delaware State University christened its new Student Center Complex with a Feb. 25 Dedication Ceremony in its new Martin Luther King Jr. Student Center, ushering in a new era of campus life for the institution.
The dedication of the Complex – which includes the Strength & Conditioning Facility, the Wellness & Recreation Center with its connected swimming pool, and the MLK Student Center – combined the event with DSU’s annual observances of Martin Luther King’s Birthday and the University’s Founders’ Day.
The Rev. Walter Fauntroy gave the keynote address.
The Honorable Walter Fauntroy, civil right activist and former U.S. congressman, gave the keynote address. Rev. Fauntroy worked with Dr. King in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference at the height of the civil rights movement in the 1960s.
Rev. Fauntroy said he was elated that Martin Luther King Jr. would remain the namesake title of the Student Center at DSU.
“My hope and belief is when they write the history of the Obama era, they will write that there lived at DSU great faculty and students who worked to finish the goal of Martin Luther King – to redeem the soul of America,” Dr. Fauntroy said. “We can live together if we follow Martin Luther King’s dream, which is rooted in the American Dream.”
Remarks were also given during the ceremony by DSU President Harry Lee Williams; Kathleen Charlot, current DSU Student Government Association (SGA) president; Leroy Tate, Delaware State College alumnus and the 1968 SGA president; Dr. Claibourne Smith, chairman of the DSU Board of Trustees; and Diedre Ottley, DSU Alumni Association president.
“With a student population of more than 3,600, we can proudly say that with the completion of the Student Center Complex, the University is providing an outstanding campus life infrastructure for its students,” Dr. Williams said. “These structures join the Education and Humanities Theatre, the Longwood Auditorium and other facilities at DSU to provide an unparalleled capacity for college life.”
Dr. Claibourne D. Smith, chairman of the DSU Board of Trustees, said that the Student Center Complex will make students’ experience at DSU more meaningful. “We understand that the intellectual, emotional and social growth they experience will come not only from the academic classrooms, but from the overall campus life to which they are exposed,” said Dr. Smith, who also served as acting president from September 2008 to January 2010. “We believe with the completion of the Student Center Complex, we have greatly enhanced the environment for that growth.”
(L-r) Dr. Claibourne D. Smith and DSU President Harry L. Williams cut the ribbon for the Student Center Complex, while the University's First Lady Robin S. Williams and Dover Mayor Carlton Carey Sr. look on.
The DSU Concert Choir provided a particularly poignant moment during the event with its moving performance of the medley “His Light Still Shines.” The 81-member choir -- directed by Dr. Curtis Powell, director of Choral Activities, positioned themselves along each aisle and the back section of the auditorium, alternating their singing with an oratory that focused on how Dr. King’s light still shines at DSU. A number of people in attendance could be seen wiping tears from their eyes by the end of the performance.
In addition to the ribbon cutting ceremony, University opened a 1968 time capsule that had been embedded in the cornerstone of the original Martin Luther King Student Center and extracted during its demolition. That time capsule contained items that were related to a May 10, 1968 Dedication Ceremony for that original student center.
Items for a new time capsule have been collected to be placed in the cornerstone of the new MLK Student Center. Those items will include letters from Dr. Williams and DSU Board of Trustees Chairman Claibourne D. Smith, photos, campus publications, a current campus map, a brick from the original MLK Student Center, an undergraduate studies Viewbook, a 2009 Homecoming guide, yearbooks and several other items that reflective of campus life in the current era.
The completed 54,000 square foot Wellness & Recreation Center includes dual basketball courts with seating areas and men and women’s locker rooms on the first floor. The second floor has a variety of Lifestyle weight machines and free weights as well as a running track that winds around the exercise areas and overlooks the basketball courts on the floor below. The facility also has a juice bar with tables and seating, as well as areas for aerobic and other fitness classes.
The Wellness Center & Recreation Center – finished in the summer of 2009 – was the second phase of a $22.5 million project that began with the fall 2008 completion of the first phase’s Strength & Conditioning Facility for student-athletes. That facility features a large Division I-A weight training area and modern locker rooms for Hornet teams.
Connected to the Wellness & Recreation Center is a $5.6 million swimming facility that connects to the Wellness Center’s locker rooms. The recreation pool features a fountain at its center, three lap lanes, an inter-pool bench with water jets, and four inter-pool basketball hoops. The swimming pool was completed in the fall of 2009.
The Wellness & Recreation Center was recently recognized among seven indoor facilities in the country to be awarded the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association’s 2010 Outstanding Sports Facility Award.
The DSU Concert Choir provided a memorable musical moment with their rendition of "His Light Still Shines."
The Complex project culminated with the late 2009 completion of the new Martin Luther King, Jr. Student Center. It is about three times the size of the previous one-floor MLK Student Center that existed from 1967 to 2006. The $23.4 million facility provides students with more space then ever to spend their social time, conduct their organizational activities, while at the same time giving the community a new facility for holding events.
The first floor of the Student Center features an Austin Grill dining facility, which includes a Tex Mex menu that may be enjoyed in an abundant seating area. The first floor also has an enlarged DSU Bookstore and Post Office, vast open lounge areas and a modest stage.
The Student Center’s second floor includes a large 7,656 square foot-auditorium that may be partitioned into three separated areas or it may be a large single area where dances, concerts or other types of large gatherings may be held. In addition, the second floor also includes a game room, a meeting room and open and closed lounge areas.
The Student Center’s third floor provides ample office meeting spaces for the Student Government Association’s Executive Council, The Hornet student newspaper, Mr. and Miss DSU, and the Graduate Studies Council. The third floor also includes the administrative offices of Student Leadership & Activities, Career Planning, Judicial Affairs, Auxiliary Services, as well as the Office of the Vice President of Student Affairs.
The primary architects for the project were Holzman, Moss, Bottino Architecture (HMBA) of New York, N.Y., and the construction management firm was EdiS Company of Wilmington, Del.
Leroy Tate, 1968 SGA president, lifts up an item from the 1968 time capsule while Brenda Farmer(far right), event emcee, describes it for the audience. Joining Mr. Tate on stage are fellow 1968 classmates (l-r) Peggy Trout, Vivian King and Pat Randolph.
HMBA and DSU worked together to develop a et of environmentally-responsible goals for the project. Sustainable features incorporated into the final design included the implementation of a waste management program for demolition of the original student center, reduced disturbance to the site, use of regional and natural materials, a natural ventilation system for lounge and dining areas, large overhangs at the south and west sides to reduce heat consumption, reduction of net to gross area ratio by providing efficient circulation, light-colored roofs to reduce solar gain, as well as the use of salvaged bricks.

Dr. Mary P. Watkins has been named professor emeritus in the Department of Nursing by a unanimous vote of the Delaware State University Board of Trustees.
Dr. Mary P. Watkins, professor emeritus
Dr. Watkins, who is retiring this year as a full professor, first came to DSU from Coppin State College to serve as a visiting chair in 1993. Although the original plan was for Dr. Watkins to return to Coppin State after one year, she ended up staying at DSU where she immediately became the permanent chair of the Department of Nursing. She would serve in that post from 1993-2006 and would continue as a faculty member until her retirement in 2011.
Her impact was felt immediately soon after she became the permanent chair. In 1994 under her leadership, the Bachelor of Nursing Program was enriched by the development of a pathophysiology and pharmacology course, which was also developed into an advance course level for the graduate program.
During her tenure as chair, the department established a Master of Science in Nursing that offers an advanced practice clinical specialty in public health nursing and role development in nursing teaching education. Also developed during her tenure is an additional specialty area in advanced adult health nursing.
Under her leadership, the DSU Department of Nursing has been awarded two national accreditations with the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission (eight-year periods, 1995-2003 and 2003-2011) and the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (10-year, 2003-2013). Her leadership also led to the full accreditation of the Master of Science in Nursing (2007-2012, the maximum five-year period).
Dr. Watkins has contributed 15 articles over the years for professional and academic nursing publications, and has begun writing a textbook in pathophysiology in advanced practice nursing.
The former nursing chair joins four others who are living DSU professor emeriti -- Dr. Kenneth Bell, former dean of the College of Agriculture and Related Science and University provost and vice president of Academic Affairs; Dr. William Flayhart, former chair of the Department of History, Political Science and Philosophy; Dr. Gustav Ofosu, former chair of the Department of Biology; and Dr. Warren Rhodes, former director of the Psychology Graduate Program.

Dr. Harry L. Williams (l) shakes hands with Sanming University Vice President Jian Liu after the signing of the accord between the two institutions. Applauding behind them are administrators from both universities.

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Delaware State University has recently expanded its partnerships in China with agreements with three universities that will bring about 100 Chinese students to DSU in the fall and send DSU faculty members to teach in that Far East country.
(L-r) DSU Provost Alton Thompson, Ningbo Univ. of Technology President Haoqi Gao and DSU President Harry L. Williams stop for a photo moment after formalizing the accord that will send DSU faculty to teach there.
DSU President Dr. Harry L. Williams and Dr. Alton Thompson, provost and vice president of Academic Affairs, recently returned from China where new accords were signed with Ningbo University of Technology, Sanming University and Zhaoqing University.
“We had a good meeting of the minds with these three universities,” Dr. Williams said. “We all want the same thing for our students – to provide them the opportunity to grow intellectually by exposing them to other cultures, something we have agreed to work together to make happen.”
The agreements with Sanming University and Zhaoqing University facilitate student and faculty exchanges with DSU. About 60 Chinese students from those two institutions will attend DSU in the fall as part of the American Cultural Program, in which the students will take English courses to improve their fluency and also courses in American literature and history.
While in China, Dr. Thompson gave an address at the dedication of the Global Village at Jilin Hauqiao Foreign Language Institute, which entered into a formal agreement with DSU in 2010 and will send students here in the fall. Dr. Thompson impressed the audience of more than 1,000 with his knowledge of Confucius, and left no doubt that the Jilin students would be in good hands at DSU.
“Our number one job is to give our students a quality education, such that they will become well-read, well-spoken, technically proficient, socially responsible and globally competent as productive and contributing citizens in our knowledge-based global society,” Dr. Thompson told the audience.
Another 40 Chinese students from Sanming and Zhaoquig will enroll at DSU in a regular degree program during the upcoming school year. According to Dr. Fengshan Liu, DSU associate vice president of International Affairs who also made the trip to China, many of those degree-seeking students will be enrolled in the University’s MBA program.
Dr. Alton Thompson give an addresses during a Julin Hauqiao Foreign Language Institute event, assisted by an unidentified interpreter.
Dr. Williams also formalized an agreement with Ningbo University of Technology that will send DSU accounting faculty to that university to teach courses that will introduce the latest curricula, education resources and teaching methods in the United States in the field of accounting, as well help familiarize Ningbo students with international accounting practices and sound business principles.
Dr. Thompson said the agreements will also result in study abroad opportunities for DSU students in China – an opportunity a group of students has already taken advantage of this month. A group of 15 DSU music and science students traveled to China in late May for a learning experience trip. In addition to a wealth of cultural tours, the science students took a course in ecology and the music students gained an appreciation of the culture through a music course.
A group of DSU students on a one-month learning experience in China meet up with the DSU delegation in Shanghai.
Diamond Moore, a junior biology major from Newark, Del., said it was exciting being out of the country for the first time in her life.
“It showed me how similar we are to other cultures,” Ms. Moore said. “We are all human and we all do similar things; it’s just language that divides us.”
Dr. Thompson said such international experience will put DSU students in a better position to make their mark on the world.
“To be world leaders, our students need to have a good perspective of other cultures,” Dr. Thompson said. “Upon graduation, we want our students to be globally competent.”

The Delaware State University Board of Trustees today approved the institution’s tuition for the 2011-2012 academic year, which includes moderate increases in the tuition and room & board rates.
During a special June 28 meeting, the board approved a 5.5% increase in tuition ($6,226 in-state and $14,221 out-of-state, both per year). Last year’s in-state tuition was $5,901 and out-of-state was $13,480.
The board also approved a 5.5% increase in both the traditional residential hall room rates (which now range from $6,676 to $7,168) and the meal plan rates (which now range from $3,168 to $3,572).
DSU President Harry L. Williams said that the loss of federal stimulus money that DSU and other institutions of higher education had received factored into the rate increase. “The Trustees kept this year’s increase relatively low, as it has over the past several years, in order to balance giving a high quality education to our students with the recognition that our student population comes with great financial need,” said Dr. Williams.
This year’s increases notwithstanding, Dr. Williams noted that DSU continues to remain competitive with other comparable institutions of higher education in the region and be an educational “best buy.”
The rates for the on-campus University Village Apartments and the institution’s off-campus University Courtyard Apartment complex will be set after those facilities’ Housing Foundation meets in the near future to determine the changes for the upcoming year.
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Delaware State University has expanded its international partnerships with the signing of a formal agreement with National School for Agriculture Training and Extension of Kaedi, Mauritania.
DSU President Harry L. Williams signed the five-year agreement on June 29 with Mauritania Ambassador Mohamed Lemine Haycen during a meeting on the DSU campus.
The agreement facilitates joint research projects, joint academic seminars, as well as student and faculty exchanges.
Ambassador Haycen noted that “knowledge is light,” and that technical knowledge is especially needed in Mauritania.
“Knowledge is the noblest that can be given, because through it you can bring a population into the light,” Ambassador Haycen said.
“It is out intent through this partnership to make significant research, training and extension contributions in the subject areas of horticulture, dry land agriculture, protective agriculture and bio-energy,” said Dr. Dyremple Marsh, dean of the DSU College of Agriculture and Related Sciences. “Successful completion of well-thought out projects in these critical need areas will serve to address the sustainability issues in both countries.”